The present invention is directed generally to optical fiber splicing, and particularly to an apparatus for use with an optical fiber splicer and for capturing and retrieving data associated with a splice.
Many optical fiber systems today require splicing of optical fiber segments. Such splicing is conventionally achieved in many ways, such as using mechanical splices or fusion splices.
When manufacturing a fusion splice, it is important that the two fiber ends that are to be fused together are precisely aligned with each other. Although in practice some misalignment cannot always be avoided, any significant misalignment may cause an unacceptably high optical loss to be provided by the splice. Further optical loss and other defects may also be incurred due to other problems with the manufacturing of a fusion splice, such as an incorrect fusing temperature, an incorrect duration of the fusion, and an unclean work area where the splice is made (e.g., foreign particles from the air that are absorbed into the fused area may increase the optical loss).
Once a splice is manufactured and installed in an optical fiber system (e.g., an optical fiber network), it may be desirable to know certain information about the splice, such as the optical loss produced by the splice, the cleave angle of the splice, and generally the quality of the splice and other manufacturing-related information. It would be desirable to have access to such information in order to provide accountability as to the source of a particular splice and/or as to the cause of a possible defect in a particular splice. Such accountability would reduce the cost and time required to discover specific problems with a manufacturing process and/or installation process and to reduce or eliminate such problems. Such accountability of splice source and quality would also be useful since splice operators are often rated on the quality of splices that the operators manufacture.
Unfortunately, there are not presently available any methods or apparatus for collecting and storing information associated with splices (splice data), or for providing access to splice data, in order to determine particular splice characteristics and to trace back the source of the manufactured splice. Should a splicer operator not perform his or her job properly, or should an otherwise acceptable splice be later sabotaged or otherwise damaged, there is presently no satisfactory way to determine the manufacturing source of the splice, or whether a particular splice was manufactured properly but was later sabotaged or damaged after the manufacturing process. Accordingly, there is a need for an apparatus and method for providing accountability as to the manufacturing source and quality of individual splices.
One reason that no such systems presently exist is that splices currently are not uniquely identifiable. In other words, splices currently are not associated with a unique identifier or indicium (such as a serial number). Although some optical fiber cables have been uniquely identified, splices are not. However, without providing unique identification of splices, it would be nearly impossible to store splice data in such a way as to provide the desired accountability discussed above. Accordingly, there is a need for the unique identification of splices.
Various aspects of the present invention solve at least the problems described above. For example, according to aspects of the present invention, a data collection system may be used for collecting and storing splice data associated with splices. The data collection system may be connectible to a splicer such that data associated with the manufacture of the splice can be transferred to the data collection system for storage, analysis, and later retrieval. Splice data that may be transferred to and stored by the data collection system (and/or generated by the data collection system) may include, but is not limited to, an indicium (such as a serial number or other identifying data) that uniquely or semi-uniquely identifies the splice, the splice program used to create the splice, the date and/or time of manufacture of the splice, the place that the splice was manufactured, the splice type, the fusion temperature used to create the splice, the fusion time, the operator""s identity, the identity of the splicer, the anticipated or actual installation location of the splice in an optical fiber system, an image of the splice, and/or any cross-referenced splice indicia may be provided via the input device.
Once the splice data is stored and appropriately organized by the data collection system, the splice data may be later retrieved for the purposes of providing accountability as to the source of the manufactured splice.
Accountability is facilitated when each splice has an associated splice indicium that uniquely or semi-uniquely identifies the splice. The splice indicium may be or include, e.g., text numbers, alphanumeric text, a symbol combination, bar coding, a pattern, graphics, a shape, a picture, an image, a holographic image, braille, a signature, a trademark, a color or color combination, a marking, an engraving and/or relief, an icon, a texture, and/or data within a memory of an electronic memory-device such as a micro-chip. According to aspects of the present invention, each splice may have a label on which the splice indicium is printed. What is important is that the splice indicium identify each particular splice having such splice indicium, either uniquely (i.e., completely unique amongst all splices) or semi-uniquely (i.e., unique within a particular group or sub-group of splices).
Accordingly, some aspects of the present invention are directed to an apparatus for receiving splice data for each of a plurality of optical fiber splices, each of the plurality of optical fiber splices being uniquely identified by at least one of a plurality of splice indicia, the apparatus comprising a data interface for receiving the splice data, and a data storage device coupled with the data interface, for receiving the splice data and the splice indicia from the data interface and for storing the splice data and the splice indicia.
Further aspects of the present invention are directed to an apparatus for selecting splice data for an optical fiber splice based on a selected splice indicium from a plurality of unique splice indicia, the selected splice indicium uniquely identifying the optical fiber splice, the apparatus comprising a input data interface for receiving the selected splice indicium; a data storage device coupled with the input data interface for storing the splice data and the plurality of splice indicia; a processor coupled with the data storage device for retrieving from the data storage device the splice data associated with the selected splice indicium; and an output data interface for outputting the splice data.
Still further aspects of the present invention are directed to a method for storing splice data and splice indicia associated with optical fiber splices, the method comprising the steps of splicing a plurality of optical fiber portions together to create a plurality of optical fiber splices; generating splice data for each of the optical fiber splices; assigning each of the optical fiber splices a splice indicium from a plurality of unique splice indicia; and storing the splice data and the splice indicia in a storage device.
Still further aspects of the present invention are directed to a method for retrieving splice data for an optical fiber splice based on a selected splice indicium from a plurality of unique splice indicia, the selected splice indicium uniquely identifying the optical fiber splice, the method comprising the steps of selecting the selected splice indicium; inputting the selected splice indicium to an input device; retrieving from a storage device coupled to the input device the splice data associated with the selected splice indicium; and outputting data representing the splice data.
Still further aspects of the present invention are directed to an optical fiber splice comprising a first optical fiber segment and a second optical fiber segment, the first and second optical fiber segments being coupled together for optical communication therebetween at a splice location within the splice; and an indicium for uniquely identifying the optical fiber splice.
Still further aspects of the present invention are directed to a method for manufacturing an optical fiber splice, the method comprising the steps of splicing optical fiber portions together at a splice location to create the optical fiber splice; and labeling the optical fiber splice with an indicium that uniquely identifies the optical fiber splice.
These and other features of the invention will be apparent upon consideration of the following detailed description of preferred embodiments. Although the invention has been defined using the appended claims, these claims are exemplary in that the invention is intended to include the elements and steps described herein in any combination or subcombination. Accordingly, there are any number of alternative combinations for defining the invention, which incorporate one or more elements from the specification, including the description, claims, and drawings, in various combinations or subcombinations. It will be apparent to those skilled in optical fiber technology, in light of the present specification, that alternate combinations of aspects of the invention, either alone or in combination with one or more elements or steps defined herein, may be utilized as modifications or alterations of the invention or as part of the invention. It is intended that the written description of the invention contained herein covers all such modifications and alterations.